PICKET: Wis. GOP lawmakers would support a bill to make Obamacare implementation illegal

Salon is reporting that Wisconsin Republicans are backing bill that would make any official who attempts to establish the Affordable Care Act an illegal act. According to Salon:

A group of Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin say that they would back a bill that would declare the Affordable Care Act illegal, and allow law enforcement to arrest any federal officials who try to implement it.

The nine lawmakers were responding to a survey from the conservative advocacy group the Campaign For Liberty, and responded “yes” to the question: “Will you support legislation to nullify ObamaCare and authorize state and local law enforcement to arrest federal officials attempting to implement the unconstitutional health care scheme known as ObamaCare?”

Gov. Scott Walker has until Friday to decide whether he’ll create a health care exchange in the state as mandated by the law, or let the administration handle it.

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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that while some GOP lawmakers in Wisconsin lawmakers back such a proposal others just do not see it as a realistic option. :

But their stance on the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, could cause the most fireworks in the upcoming session. Walker must decide by Friday whether the state will create a health care exchange under the health care law or leave those duties to President Barack Obama’s administration.

Rep. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) is one of the nine from Wisconsin who told the Campaign for Liberty he would back legislation to declare Obamacare illegal and allow police to arrest federal officials who take steps to implement it in Wisconsin. He said he believes the health care law is unconstitutional, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that it passes constitutional muster.“Just because Obama was re-elected does not mean he’s above the constitution,” Kapenga said.

In addition to Kapenga, those listed as supporting the Campaign for Liberty’s positions are Sen. Mary Lazich of New Berlin; Reps. Don Pridemore of Hartford; Erik Severson of Star Prairie; Tom Larson of Colfax; Scott Krug of Wisconsin Rapids; and three Republicans elected for the first time last week who will be sworn in early next year - Rob Hutton of Brookfield, Mark Born of Beaver Dam and Dave Murphy of Greenville.

Severson told the group he did not support the legislation on Transportation Security Administration pat-downs, but backed the other measures. The other current and newly elected lawmakers said they supported the entire agenda of Campaign for Liberty, according to the group’s website.

The Campaign for Liberty and others endorse a notion being promoted by conservatives called nullification that holds that under the 10th Amendment states can ignore federal laws if they choose. The 10th Amendment says: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), the incoming Assembly speaker, said he has no position on nullification and is waiting for Walker to make his decision on an exchange, said Vos spokeswoman Kit Beyer.

But Larson said leaders told Assembly Republicans on Tuesday that nullification is “not an option.”“I’m certainly not for Obamacare, and if there’s any way we could stop that in the state of Wisconsin, I’d be up for that,” Larson said.

As for arresting federal officials, he said, “I don’t think that’s possible under the circumstances.”

Pridemore said he would like to find ways to block Obamacare, but he doesn’t know the best way to do it.“People in our district do not want Obamacare hands down,” he said.